TIME, one of the most famous news outlets in the world, has joined the echelon of companies actively exploring the world of cryptocurrencies. Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenschein said the magazine will now receive a portion of its payments in Bitcoin.
In addition, the coin will not be immediately converted into regular currency, that is, TIME will keep the digital asset on its balance sheet, following the example of MicroStrategy, Tesla and other giants. Let’s talk about the situation in more detail.
As a reminder, Grayscale is a digital asset management company.
Who invests in Bitcoin
The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust division already holds more than 3 percent of all BTC in circulation, and this figure continues to grow. The day before, the company entered into a partnership with TIME, which Sonnenschein reported on his Twitter account. Here is his remark in which he shared the results of the interaction. The quote is from Decrypt.
I am pleased to announce that Grayscale will be working with TIME on a new series about the crypto space due this summer. Equally important, TIME CEO Keith Grossman agreed to receive payment in Bitcoin and keep BTC on the company’s balance sheet. This is our first partnership with the media.
That is, in fact, this is not a direct investment in cryptocurrency on the part of the giant, but in the end, the company’s management at least decided not to get rid of blockchain assets. And this will surely be the first step in the adoption of BTC by the company. Perhaps in the future, it will begin to accept cryptocurrency for its issues, as it is already doing with Tesla cars. Recall that the opportunity to pay for cars with bitcoins outside the United States should appear before the end of this year.
The avalanche of crypto investment by professionals began last year, when Wall Street analyst giant MicroStrategy poured nearly a quarter billion dollars into Bitcoin. Later, he was joined by Square, Tesla, Meitu and others. All of these organizations are now in significant gains due to the rise in the price of Bitcoin over the past few months. This lucrative investment option will clearly attract even more major players for the foreseeable future.
Most recently, TIME has also joined the unique token space by selling its magazine covers as NFTs.
However, there are also enough skeptics about cryptocurrencies. One of the largest banks in the world, called HSBC, is already blocking transfers from cryptocurrency exchanges to client accounts – this was known even earlier. However, now the bank’s policy on countering digital assets has reached a new level.
In an interview with Reuters, HSBC representatives confirmed that the bank no longer allows clients to trade MicroStrategy shares due to the fact that the company holds a significant portion of its assets in BTC. The message to customers indicated that «HSBC has changed its policy on virtual currencies» and products related to them. As a result, customers can no longer buy or transfer such assets, although they can continue to hold or sell them.
HSBC does not want to deal directly with virtual currencies and has a limited interest in promoting products or assets that depend on cryptocurrencies for value.
We checked the actual data: MicroStrategy now has 91,579 bitcoins at its disposal for $ 5.9 billion. Moreover, the company’s management invested 2.2 billion in them, which means that the unrealized profit already exceeds the level of 3 billion.
In other words, the fact that MicroStrategy has converted a significant portion of its balance into cryptocurrencies is very alarming for HSBC. And this is not surprising – now the price of the company’s shares and its image strongly depend on the movement of the Bitcoin price. The growth potential of the crypto market is huge, but there are risks too. And while HSBC is not going to plunge headlong into the innovation industry, but only plan to watch its development from the outside.
We believe that the contrast between these events is immense. On the one hand, there is a progressive publication whose management sees the potential in Bitcoin and is ready to get acquainted with it. On the other hand, there is a bank that prohibits clients from trading shares of a certain company due to its connection with cryptocurrencies. This situation highlights the benefits of decentralization and excessive powers in the hands of banks and other financial institutions. The long-term winner is clear here.
